Concrete Properties

Versatile
Pliable when mixed
Strong & Durable
Does not Rust or Rot
Does Not Need a Coating
Resists Fire

BY MO K-K NEVILLE CN/MH

INTRODUCTION
When first mixed the water and cement, they
constitute a paste which surrounds all the
individual pieces of aggregate to make a plastic
mixture
A chemical reaction called hydration takes place
between the water and cement, and concrete
normally changes from a plastic to a solid state
in about 3-4 hours
Concrete continues to gain strength as it cures
Heat of hydration is the heat given off during
the chemical reaction as the cement hydrates
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INTRODUCTION
The potential strength and durability of
concrete of a given mix proportion is very
dependent on the degree of its compaction

It is vital that the consistency of the mix

is such that the concrete can be
transported, placed, and finished sufficiently
early enough to attain the expected strength
and durability

SIGNIFICANCE
The first 48 hours are very important for the
performanceof the concrete structure
.

It controls the long-term behaviour,

influence strength, Youngs Modulus, creep
and durability

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CONCRETE PROPERTIES
Fresh Concrete
Workability
Cohesiveness
Hardened Concrete
Strength
Durability
Concrete has 3 main states
Plastic
Setting
Hardening
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CONCRETE STATES
Plastic State
When the concrete is first
mixed, it is soft and can be
worked or moulded into
different shapes
Concrete is plastic during
placing and compaction
Most important properties of
plastic concrete are
workability and cohesiveness
Workers will sink into plastic
concrete
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CONCRETE STATES
Setting State
Begins to stiffen when it is no
longer soft
Takes place after compaction
and during finishing
Workers leave footprints in
setting concrete

CONCRETE STATES
Hardening state
After concrete has set, it
begins to gain strength and
harden
Properties of hardened
concrete are strength and
durability
No footprints on it if walked
on

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WORKABILITY
Workability means how easy it is to
Place
Handle
Compact
Finish a concrete mix

Concrete that is dry may be difficult to handle, place,

compact and finish, and, if not constructed
properly, will not be strong or durable when
finally hardened

WORKABILITY
Workability is affected by
Amount of cement paste (cement paste is liquid part of the
concrete mix, i.e. the more paste mixed with the coarse and
fine aggregates, the more workable a mix)
Water content (higher water content leads to higher
workability)
Grading(uniform grading leads to better workability)
Admixtures (superplasticisers/air entraining agents)
Finenessof cement (finer cement, faster loss of
workability)
Time (cement hydration)
Temperature (higher temperature leads to loss of workability)

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WORKABILITY

To make a more workable

mix
Add more cement paste
Use well graded
aggregates
Use an admixture
Never try to make a
mixture more workable by
just adding more water
because this lowers the
strength and durability of
concrete

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COHESIVENESS
Cohesiveness is how well concrete HOLDS
TOGETHER when plastic
Affected by
Aggregate grading graded aggregate means that
there is a range of size of aggregates, from large
rocks to small sands. Well-graded aggregates gives a
more cohesive mix, too much coarse aggregate gives
a honey mix
water content a mix that has too much water will not
be cohesive and may separate and bleed

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COHESIVENESS - BLEEDING

Water in the mix tends to

rise to the surface of fresh
concrete
Inability of solid
constituents to hold all the
water together, i.e.
settlement of solid particles
(cement and aggregate)
Excessive bleeding
increases the water-cement
ratio near the top surface,
i.e. a weak top layer with
poor durability may result

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COHESIVENESS - BLEEDING

Causes of bleeding
Too much water (high water-cement ratio)
Less fines in the mix (cement and sand)
Poor grading of aggregates
Overworking of concrete

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COHESIVENESS - SEGREGATION
,
Segregation is when the aggregate and cement
paste become separated
Happen when the concrete is mixed, transported,
placed or compacted
Segregation makes the concrete weaker, less
durable, and will leave a poor surface finish

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Improperly consolidated Concrete

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COHESIVENESS - SEGREGATION

Avoid segregation
Concrete not too wet
or too dry
Concrete is properly
mixed
Load concrete
carefully
Not over vibration

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 HYDRATION - CURING
Curing is the maintenance,
of satisfactory moisture
content and temperature in
concrete for a period of time
immediately following placing
and finishing so as to develop
the desired properties of
concrete
By keeping concrete moist, the
bond between the paste and
the aggregates gets stronger
Concrete must be properly
cured to develop optimum
properties

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HYDRATION - CURING
Curing is done just after finishing the
concrete surface
When curing leave the formwork in place to
help reduce water loss
Concrete that is cured is less likely to crack,
more durable and stronger
Concrete is cured by applying extra water
to the surface of the concrete, or stopping
water loss from the concrete
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HYDRATION - CURING

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 Top of Slab being protected during cold weather

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PLASTIC SHRINKAGE
Crackingthat occurs when the concrete is still plastic
Cracks are usually parallel to each other
Moisture loss from the surface is the cause
If bleed water replaces the water lost, no cracking results

Evaporation increased by

High surface temperatures

High wind speed

Low humidity
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PLASTIC SHRINKAGE
Avoided by
Moist concrete surface
Cover concrete
Erection of windbreaks &
sunshades

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COMPACTION
Compaction is done by
vibrating, the concrete
which liquefies it, allowing
the trapped air to rise out
Concrete settles, filling all
the space in the forms
Compaction must be done
as concrete is placed, while
it is still plastic.
Properly compacted
concrete is more dense,
strong and durable
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HONEYCOMBING
Honeycombing occurs when voids
are left in concrete due to failure
of the mortar to effectively fill the
spaces among the coarse
aggregate particles.

Occurs due to poor compaction or

lesser quantity of fine sand
leading to a harshconcrete
mix

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HONEYCOMBING

Extensive honeycombing was revealed after removal of the

formwork. Poorly compacted concrete in front of reinforcing bars
and behind was removed by cutting back to sound concrete by
water jetting. It was necessary to cut back behind reinforcing
bars to provide adequate anchorage for the repair concrete.
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Reinforced Concrete

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Reinforced Concrete

What is reinforced concrete (RC)?

Combination of concrete and steel (composite material)

Produces a strong, durable, fire resistance and versatile

building material

Features best properties of each material

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Reinforced Concrete

Property Concrete Steel

Strength in tension Poor Good

Strength in Good Good, but slender bars

compression buckle
Strength in shear Fair Good

Durability Good Corrodes if unprotected

Fire Resistance Good Poor rapid loss of

strength at high T

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Reinforced Concrete
Concrete tends to fail in brittle manner (suddenly,
without warning not good for structures)
Reinforcing bar (Re-bar) takes high tensile loads,
: -
When it takes a large enough load, it yields and becomes plastic
(i.e. stretches considerably under little increase in load)
Known as a ductile material
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Reinforced Concrete

Simply supported beam apply a load

Bottom surface in tension at beam centre
Top surface in compression

Compression

Tension

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Reinforced Concrete

Two span beam apply a load in each span

Bottom surface in tension at beam centre span
Top surface in compression at beam centre span
Situation reversedat central support tension
top and compression bottom
Compression Compression
Tension

Tension Tension
Compression
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DURABILITY

Consider failure mechanism of plain concrete

If sufficient load is applied, beam will fail suddenly by
cracking a the location of maximum tension

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REINFORCED CONCRETE

Construct a compositebeam of concrete and

reinforcing steel
If steel bars are located near bottom face (where
tension is), the beam can take a much higher
load before failing
Concrete resists compression on top and steel
resists tension at bottom
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REINFORCED CONCRETE
Bond
In order to achieve composite action, steel and concrete
must act together to transfer tension in the concrete into the
steel
Bonding to round bars using cement paste is one method
(gluing to surface)
Provide additional bond by having ribs in the
bars

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REINFORCED CONCRETE

Anchorage
Bending bars (to an L or U shape) at the end of the span
provides better anchorage (longer length over which to
transfer tension)
If beam is long, normal to use two reinforcement bars
overlapped sufficiently to develop full anchorage
thus they act as one bar
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REINFORCED CONCRETE
Shear
If such a beam were tested, failure would probably occur
due to diagonal cracking near supports
This is known as shear failure another dangerous form
of brittle failure
Need to provide vertical reinforcement to bridge the
cracks there are known as shear links
Have to provide additional longitudinal steel to hold top
end of links in place

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REINFORCED CONCRETE
Reinforcement Cages
Useful to prefabricate stable reinforcement cage and drop
into location
Example below is for a continuous beam with two spans
Note additional links near support (biggest shear force)
Significant tensile steel at mid-span and over supports
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REINFORCED CONCRETE

Under-reinforced beams
If steel weaker than concrete, steel will yield and stretch
significantly ductile failure and plenty of warning (through
cracking on the bottom surface)
Preferred design condition because of this warning
Over-reinforced beams
If additional steel is provided to make beam stronger, could
lead to concrete becoming the weaker component
Beam then fails suddenly by concrete failure in compression
(before steel becomes plastic) brittle failure
Not preferred design condition because of no sign of
warning

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REINFORCED CONCRETE
Columns
Concrete section in compression
but also some moment moment
generates tension in part of the
section
Reinforcement provided to take
the tension
Links are also provided to
restrainslender column to
prevent buckling.
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REINFORCED CONCRETE
Reinforcement generally in form of bars
Round bars R bars (yield stress = 250MPa)
Ribbed bars T bars (yield stress = 460MPa)
Installation on site carried out by steel fixers
Bars are located according to reinforcement drawing
Cover blocks and spacers used to maintain
adequate cover at perimeter of concrete section

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END
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